Saturday, March 23, 2013

Taking Responsibility

Over the past few weeks in the children's ministry at New Minas Baptist we have been teaching how Jesus intentionally revealed to his disciples who he is and what he had come to do - he intentionally showed them that he is the Promised King [Palm Sunday], that he had humbled himself to come and serve humanity [foot washing], and that he would soon humble himself even further and allow himself to succumb to death [Last Supper].

Last Sunday we taught the story of Jesus praying in the garden. Through his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane that Jesus showed that he was fully aware of what was coming and also fully willing to choose death for us. Jesus was fully willing to take responsibility for sin which was not his own.

In order to teach this story, Caleb (age 11) and I told a story about an experience we had a year ago. Caleb was out with an uncle and accidentally banged his car door into the car door of a really nice BMW next to him when they parked. There was no mistaking the dent that the accident left behind. Caleb and his uncle did the right thing and left our phone number. In the end, I payed $400 for the damage to be repaired. Ultimately, as we explained to the children on Sunday, the damage was not my fault or the consequences my responsibility. However, because Caleb is my son, I accepted responsibility for his accident and payed the penalty ($400) in his place.

Obviously I am not saying that my sacrifice or Caleb's accident are the same as Jesus' death or our sin. However, the real life illustration was a very useful way to convey the concept of Jesus taking responsibility for our sin.

I am proud of my son, he spoke well, telling his story with purpose, and believing that God would use his experience.